Square Dancing

Still Alive And Kicking In Hampton Roads

February 02, 1990|By SCOTT SAALMAN Staff Writer

Step into this cafeteria on certain Friday nights and you're sure to be flooded with a tidal wave of good times.

That's a guarantee from the Tidal Waves square dancers of Newport News. And, according to any of its 80 members, that's a guarantee no matter where you find a square dance. Good times and kindness just seem to come with the territory.

On the second and fourth Fridays of each month, at Sedgefield School (OK, so it's not a barn), hugs and handshakes greet the night and follow it on through until Frank Vaughan signs the final call. By day, he's a highway engineer. By night, a square dance caller. "Hey, promenade around the ring with that pretty little thing," he sang to the accompaniment of a 45 rpm record, one of 150 that he takes with him to his dances. He has plenty more back at his home in Smithfield.

Each record is a $5 remake of a song that you've probably heard on the radio, be it a country station or, surprisingly enough, a pop music station. Songs ranging from "Rocky Top" to "Hooked on Elvis" to "Margaritaville" to "Neutron Dance" have been customized for the square dance floor.

Vaughan blends original lyrics in with his dance calls. Some he knows by heart. Others he reads from a record sleeve as he sings. "Margaritaville" goes like this: "Living on sponge cake/watching the sun bake/all of those tourists covered with oil/left allemanade and weave now ..."

"Normally, people associate square dancing with fiddling. You can square dance to really any kind of music there is," says Pat Wagner of Tabb, a Tidal Wave who has been square dancing for 12 years now.

Behind the microphone, from Vaughan's vantage point, there's a pretty sight to behold: the men in their long-sleeved Western style shirts, bolo ties and favorite belt buckles; the women spinning around, their colorful skirts trying to catch up, petticoats rising and falling like a carnival ride.

"It's not the caller that makes the dances," Vaughan says. "It's the dancers. It would be nothing without them."

The tables have been pulled back to the walls, creating a speckled dance floor for 64 people to do-si-do, circle left, slip the clutch and California Twirl the night away in eight squares of constant, precision movement.

There are eight people to a square. Back in 1963, when Vaughan was 13 and first learned to square dance, it was common to have 15 to 18 squares on the floor at one time. Now, a good dance only has eight or nine.

"It comes and it goes. I've seen it down. I've seen it up. The `Urban Cowboy' movie helped us out a little bit," he says.

Says Wagner, "A few years back, it was really gung-ho, but all of a sudden it just started declining again. I don't think square dancing will die out, but I don't know if it'll ever be as big as it used to be."

Vaughan, Wagner and the other Tidal Waves wish more younger people would become involved in square dancing. Vaughan estimates that most people at his dances are 30 to 50 years old.

"They just think it's for old-timers andd it's old-fashioned," Wagner says. "You don't have to be 50 years old to square dance and have a good time."

This seemed to hold true at both extremes during a recent dance, where the ages ranged from 11 to 87. John Talscik, 87, of Hamton has square danced for four years. When asked why he waited so long to learn, he replied, "I'm from New York. I saw it on TV there, but I never thought I'd be doing it."

Besides getting plenty of exercise and being involved in some good, clean, cheap, family-oriented fun, Talscik says there's one other reason he's glad he got involved: He met Frances, now 80, through square dancing. They married soon after and have danced together ever since.

At a Tidal Waves dance, as with most square dances, no alcohol is allowed on the premises. In its place is lemonade. It's a rule for the sake of common courtesy and to maintain square dancing's wholesome image.

Besides, there's no way a drunk could keep up out there on the floor. You have to constantly listen, constantly use your brain. The constant smile will come automatically. If you have too much fun, you might even sweat a little.

SQUARE FACTS

Square dancing first evolved in early 1800s. In 1981, it became the United State's national folk dance. In Hampton Roads, there are about 20 clubs, including four in Newport News and one in Gloucester. To generate a fellowship, most clubs welcome other clubs to join in on their dances.

An evening of square dancing usually costs $5 a couple and lasts three hours.

Though many claim you need no previous dancing skills to square dance - and, in fact, can be as clumsy as an ox - square dancing isn't that simple. Before beginners are allowed to participate, they have to take classes.

Each club offers classes, which usually begin in September and are held once a week for 30 weeks, costing about $60. By then, you'll have learned 96 basic moves that will make you look like you know what you're doing. Once you're allowed on the floor, there are thousands of other moves to learn.